Meatless Monday: A Berry Delicious Breakfast

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, “A healthy, hot breakfast is a great way to start the day, in any season.”

This quick and easy baked oatmeal recipe from the Early Summer 2014 Penzeys catalog features mixed berries for sweetness and color. Fresh, local berries will soon be ripe for picking or purchase, but, in the meantime, frozen berries will do the trick; it will just add a few minutes to the cooking time.

Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal

by loyal Penzey Customer Zelda

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup 2% milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt or unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 cups oatmeal (either quick or regular)
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 cups mixed berries, fresh or frozen

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Grease an 8x8 glass baking dish.
• In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients EXCEPT the berries.
• Add 3/4 of the mixture to the baking dish.
• Even layer the berries on top of the oatmeal mixture.
• Layer the remaining oatmeal mixture atop the berries.
• Bake until top starts to brown and the oatmeal is bubbling (approx. 30 minutes).
• Serve in bowls with a bit of milk or some maple syrup if you have a sweet tooth. [Ripe bananas or some extra berries are nice, too.]

I have made this breakfast twice now — the first time with applesauce, the second with yogurt. Today we topped it with sliced bananas. We should be good for hours.

Leftovers reheat very well in a microwave.

I plan to try a vegan version soon, using applesauce, almond milk, and egg replacer. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Whatever variation you choose, I’m sure it will be berry, berry good.

Happy holiday Monday. Have a great week!

On Mondays I often blog on food, food issues, or gardening in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”